Reaper
by chasezx3
Summary: When RIck enters the tank, he finds a young man inside of it. This is the story of that young man. Mostly follows the plot of the TV series, but with my OC added in. Not a gary-sue
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own the Walking Dead in any way, this is just a fan's fan fiction and nothing more. I do realize that the dialogue will not be a 100% match, but adding a new character tends to change the story line. This will NOT be a romance between my OC and any other canon character. Please review with thoughts and constructive criticism. I apologize if there are any spacing or formatting issues, I am not familiar with the changes that occur when one uploads a story on **

Ben, or Reaper, as he liked to call himself, sighed for the umpteenth time that day. He was trapped inside a freaking tank in the middle of Atlanta, with a giant herd of walkers just outside. Normally, this would not be a problem, however, he had dropped his scythe on his way inside of the tank. He had also used up all of his knives killing any walker that got too close. He did have a former soldiers pistol, which was fully loaded. But, he did not know where to head if he escaped from the tank. It would surely turn out to be a suicide run if he did attempt an escape. And, he was not going to opt out by shooting himself, that was too cowardly. He would rather be torn apart by a carnivorous walker than stoop as low as committing suicide.

Suddenly, the bottom latch of the tank swung open, and a brown-haired man wearing a sheriffs getup, minus the hat, hastily climbed in and shut the latch. Fearing the worst, Ben raised the gun to the sheriffs head, and prepared himself to fire. To any other person, killing a human being might sound atrocious, but Ben was used to killing people, he even liked it, which is one of the reasons why he was locked up in an insane asylum for six years.

Rick realized that there was another human inside of the tank, a human who was aiming a gun at his head, and raised his hands above his head to show that he meant no harm. Rick said, trying to calm the kid down, "Easy there, kid. I mean you no harm."

Rick scanned the kid with the pistol, which Rick guessed was a Beretta, maybe taken from the dead walker behind the kid. The kid appeared to be no more than sixteen years of age, and had multiple scars on his left forearm. The scars appeared to be self inflicted. The kid was wearing a black cloak, with a hood attached, but not pulled up. The absence of the hood on the kids head allowed Rick to notice that he had brown hair that reached his fore head, and random patches of a dark red color on his head, maybe from blood. After a moment, the kid finally lowered the gun from Ricks head. Rick sighed, relieved that he was not about to die, and leaned back.

After a brief silence, Rick thought that it would not be a bad idea to try and strike up a conversation with the kid, attempt to gain some trust in order to prevent the kid from threatening Rick with his gun. Also, Rick knew that if they were going to escape the tank with their lives, they would have the greatest chance to do so if they worked together.

"My name is Rick,"Rick introduced himself, reaching a hand out to offer the kid a handshake, "Whats your name, kid?"

Rick was about to retract his hand, the kid had merely stared at it for a minute, not attempting to shake it, when the kid reached forward, and shook Ricks hand.

"My name is Reaper, sheriff," Ben introduced himself, using the nickname that he uses for himself in place of his real name.

Rick was puzzled for a moment, wondering why the kid would use a word to introduce himself, instead of using his actual name. "That is a word, not a name," Rick pointed out.

The kid, Rick simply refused to call him Reaper, shrugged and replied, "My name is actually Ben Smith, I just call myself to Reaper to entertain myself."

"Why?" Rick questioned, curious as to how Ben was entertained by calling himself Reaper. The name Ben Smith sounded familiar to Rick, but he could not place exactly where he had heard that name at the moment.

"Because I wear a black cloak, and I use a scythe as a weapon," Ben answered.

"Aah," Rick said, thinking that it made sense. Rick suddenly leaned forward when he remembered where he had heard that name before. "Wait, are you the same Ben Smith as that murderer?"

Ben nodded, "Yeah, that's me. And, I wouldn't call myself a murderer. My kills were justified."

"How were they justified?" Rick demanded, his hand straying to the five shot revolver in his holster.

"My parent were extremely bad parents," Ben said, closing his eyes, "They abused me. Locked me inside of my room for days without feeding me and without giving me water. One day, I just snapped, and got revenge. So, you don't have to worry about me killing you, I only kill those who deserve it."

Rick was appalled by the knowledge that Ben's parents would do such a thing to their child. Rick himself was a father, and he could not even come up with a scenario where he would abuse his son in any way. Nor, could he picture his son killing him and his wife, if they were still alive, that is. He moved his hand away from his holster, believing what Ben said. "Weren't you locked up in an asylum six years ago?"

"Yeah," Ben replied, "I escaped when the asylum was overrun." Ben opened his eyes, and grinned at Rick, "Why, are you going to arrest me for escaping?"

Smiling, Rick shook his head. "Under the circumstances, I think it was justified." He said. He then remembered something else, he saw a scythe laying beside the tank, maybe it was the one that Ben said he had. "Is that your scythe?" He asked Ben.

Ben nodded, and grumbled, "Yeah, lost it on my wa-."

Ben was cut off by the radio in the tank screeching. A voice came over the radio, "Hello, are you alive in there dumb ass?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is the second chapter of my story Reaper, and I have to say, I am surprised by how many people visited and read this story. Sadly, no reviews): . I still do not own the Walking Dead, if I did, nothing would have changed. I would just ask the original writers and executive producers to remain on the show. I would just own it so I would not have to put this disclaimer every time.**

**I am using Times New Roman with size 12 font, is there a better font and size than this? Please review with constructive criticism and thoughts. Any formatting mistakes are mine, for I do not have a beta reader**

Recap: Ben was cut off by the radio in the tank cackling, and a voice came over it, "Hey dumb ass, you still alive in there?" /end recap

Frantically, Rick scrambled over to the radio, fearing that by the time he reached it, the source of the voice would be gone. "We're alive in here," He replied, praying that whoever was the source of the voice was still there, and was able to get them out of the tank, alive.

"We?" The voice questioned, confused. Apparently the source of the voice did not know that there was another human trapped inside of the tank, "You mean that there is another dumb ass inside of that tank?"

"Yeah," Rick affirmed, avoiding the pointed glare that Ben shot at Rick when he basically just called Ben a dumb ass._ Well__,_ Ben reasoned, _he did get himself stuck in the tank in the first place__._ "Is there any way out?" Rick questioned, praying for the second time since he got stuck inside of the tank.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure that you'll like my idea though," The voice trailed off, "I would suggest making a run for it." The voice was right, they did not like the idea. Sensing that they had their doubts, the voice explained, "The majority of the herd outside of the tank is feasting on the deer that you rode in on, so they're distracted, for the moment, that is. There is, however, a stray walker on the top of the tank, just standing there, I don't think he knows that you all are inside it, luckily. Once you exit the tank, head down the street, I'll be in the second alley way on your right. What weapons do you have?"

Rick looked to Ben, who ejected the clip from his pistol, counted the rounds, slid it back in, and said, "Fully loaded, and I have this," Rick wondered what he meant. Ben reached down to his pockets, and withdrew a grenade, another thing that he stole from the deceased soldier, and presented it to Rick. Rick widened his eyes, surprised by the fact that Ben had a grenade. _Though__,_he thought to himself, _this is a United States military tank__.__ Why wouldn't there be a grenade inside of the tank? Ben probably took it from that dead soldier over there__,__ along with the gun__,__ it looked military issue__._

Rick relayed the information back over the radio.

"Make it count," The voice said, "I'll be waiting for you."

Rick randomly asked the voice, "Wait, what's your name?"

Ben was confused as to why Rick would want to know the voices name, and apparently the voice was confused about the same thing, for the voice came back over the radio, and said, "Are you kidding me!? You're wasting time, the herd may stop eating that deer anytime now, and, if that happens, there is no way that you'll be able to reach me."

Ben gripped the handles of the latch to the top of the tank, prepared to open them at a moments notice, and remembered that his scythe was just outside of the tank. He said to Rick, "I need to get my scythe back, can you cover me?" That being said, he passed over his stolen pistol to Rick, who would hopefully use it to protect Ben, and not just shoot him in the leg so Rick can escape with his life intact while leaving Ben to get torn to pieces.

Rick nodded, cocking the pistol. He knew that Ben was taking a huge risk by handing him the pistol, he could easily just shoot him right here, or feed him to the walkers so he could make his own escape, but he would not do such a thing, and he would have to prove that to Ben. Truthfully, for somebody committed to a mental institution, Ben seemed surprisingly sane. _If he wasn't sent there because he was mentally unstable__,__ than what was he sent there for? _Rick questioned himself, _I'll just ask him later__,__ that is assuming that we escape with our lives__._

"On three, you open it." Rick informed Ben, readying himself for what was to come. When Ben nodded, he started counting, "One, two, three!"

Ben swung the latch open, causing it to bang against the tank. Ben noticed that the voice was telling the truth while climbing onto the tank, there was a walker on the tank, and there was a group feasting on a down on his its luck deer. When the walker realized that there was love food on the tank, Rick shot it in its head, preventing it from killing Ben.

Ben dove for his scythe, it was right next to a walker. The walker lunged for Ben, but Ben was faster. He grabbed his scythe and swung high, chopping the poor walkers head in half, killing it instantly. _Ahh__,_Ben thought to himself, _It's good to have my scythe back__._

Ben was brought out of his thoughts by Rick shouting, "Come on, let's go!"

With that, Rick jumped off the tank, and started jogging to the alleyway where the voice would hopefully be, and where they hopefully could escape with their lives intact. While Rick paused for a moment, killing two walkers that were in their way, Ben caught up to him, and cut another walker's head in half. After the path was cleared, they both started running to the alleyway, which was in sight now. There were several more walkers that were taken care of, some by a bullet to the brain, others by a scythe to the head.

Within moments, they reached the alleyway. They both entered it, and saw a young man, who both presumed to be the man behind the voice. The man was shorter than both Rick and Ben, and was either Chinese or Korean. He had short black hair, and had a backpack slung on his back. Rick and Ben swung the gate closed, blocking the alley and giving them a moment to breathe. But, only a moment, the walkers were already pounding on the fence, and would breach the fence in a matter of moments.

"Come on." the man urged, starting to run to a ladder. Both Rick and Ben followed, running as fast as they could. Right as the man started to climb the ladder, the walkers broke the fence down, and started stumbling(best word I could think of to describe their movements) towards the trio. Rick started climbing the ladder. By the time Ben was climbing the ladder, the walkers had reached the ladder, and he barely missed a walkers hand. The trio continued climbing, until they reached a landing. At the landing, there was another ladder, this one reaching up to the roof.

Once Ben set foot on the landing, he looked down to see a sight that surprised him, a walker was climbing the ladder. Its pace was very slow, but it was still climbing, and would sadly reach the landing if nothing would stop them. He grabbed Ricks pistol from his holster, and shot the lead walker in the head, effectively blocking the walkers path. His work done, he passed the pistol back to Rick, who holstered it wordlessly, not commenting on what Ben did.

"I'm Glenn, by the way," the man introduced himself, prompting Rick and Ben to do the same, but Ben introduced himself as Reaper, again. "Wait," Glenn asked, "Reaper is a word, not a name? Why did-?"

"Doesn't matter," Rick interrupted, "Even if it is a word, it is suitable to identify him." Rick thought that Ben called himself Reaper for another reason, maybe he used it to introduce himself because he didn't want people to doubt him, to fear him.

Glenn shrugged, and said, "Suit yourself." He then started climbing, and after the second rung, he looked down, and said, "Look at it this way, if we fall, it will be the landing that kills us. I'm a glass half full kind of guy." That being said, he started climbing again.

"Man," Ben said, starting to climb the ladder, "If you're going to keep on joking like that, I'd fall down willingly. Rick chuckled at his response, where as Glenn frowned. _Oh well__,_Glenn thought, _I guess that he just doesn't have the same sense of humor that I do__.__ Stinks for him__._

After a few moments of climbing, the trio reached the rooftop. Once all three were standing on the roof, Glenn walked over to a rooftop access panel and flipped it open, climbing inside, made sure that the dynamic duo were following him, and then started to descend.

"Why did you help us back there?" Rick questioned, once he started to also descend down the ladder into the dark, hopefully walker-free room.

"In the vain hope that if I were in as bad as a situation ax you two were," Glenn answered, stepping off the bottom of the ladder onto the floor, "That somebody would help me." After he answered Ricks question, he exited the room, and walked down to a door. "Come on," he beckoned, leading the way. Rick and Ben followed, making sure to keep pace with their savior avid getting lost or separated.

**Longest chapter yet. A new chapter will hopefully be posted tomorrow, if not, than the day after that, or the day after that, or the day after that, or the day after that, or the day after that. If anybody got what show I was referencing, you get a virtual cookie!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Another chapter, which makes this the only story that has more than two chapters! Hooray. Still do not own Walking Dead, and there are no reviews, and no new favorites or follows.**

After a few minutes of following Glenn, they reached a doorway with a window to the outside alleyway. Ben glanced outside, and saw two walkers. Glenn brought out his radio, and said through it, "There are two walk-, hey!" Glenn stopped talking to the rest of his group, when Ben opened the door and jogged to the nearest walker.

"What is he doing?" Glenn exclaimed, "He's not wearing any body armor, he might die!" By the time Glenn had finished his sentence, Ben had already dispatched of one walker, and was making his way to the other.

_Looks like he can handle himself well, _Rick mused to himself, watching Ben slice the other walkers head in half, _he could help me find my family. But, can't ignore the fact that he has blood on his hands or the fact that he did time in a mental institution._

Seeing that the alleyway was now clear of walkers, Glenn opened the door, and walked out into the alley, with Rick following him. Another door opened, but at a different part of the alley, and two figures wearing makeshift body armor ran out, brandishing weapons, probably prepared to kill the two walkers that Glenn had reported to them. They stopped in their tracks when they saw two dead walkers, Glenn, and two strangers. One was standing over a walker with a bloody scythe in his hand, the other was following Glenn, who was walking over to the armored duo.

"What happened here?" The first figure asked, once Glenn and Rick passed him. By the tone of his voice, Ben was able to guess that the first figure did not seem to be able to understand that one man took out two walkers, and without wearing body armor.

"You're late," Ben informed him, passing by the dumbfounded figures, "You missed all of the fun."

Upon entering the doorway, a woman with blonde hair in a ponytail pointed a pistol at Ricks head. "Do you have any idea of what you did?" She screeched, "We're all dead because of you!" She swung the pistol towards Ben, causing him to swing the bottom of his scythe at her arm, knocking it back and then placing the curved blade behind her neck, but still touching it.

"Don't point a gun at me!" He growled, fury and rage seeping into his voice.

"Easy now," Rick said, attempting to calm Ben down. _Maybe this has to do with why he was locked up, _Rick thought, _Now I'm not so sure that he isn't a greater threat than I thought he was._

After a second, Ben removed the scythe from the blondes neck, and swung the scythe over his shoulder, the strap on it allowing it to be worn like a backpack. "You said that we killed you all," Ben questioned, "Why did you say that?" The anger and rage, Rick thought, relieved, were now gone from Ben's voice.

"Follow me," A dark, curly haired man beckoned, and then walked down another hallway, with everybody following him. They eventually reached a store, with double glass doors leading out into the overrun city. He pointed out the doors, where a group of walkers were pounding on the glass doors, trying to break them down, and said, "That."

"You rang the dinner bell," the blonde said, still wary of Ben, "with all of those shots that you used."

"I didn't know," Rick defended himself.

"Yeah well," the dark haired man said, "Since as we're all going to die together, might as well introduce ourselves. I'm Morales, that's Glenn, the blonde is Andrea, and that's T-Dog over there."

"I'm Rick," Rick introduced himself, "and he's Reaper." Again, Rick introduced Ben as Reaper.

"Reaper isn't a name," Andrea argued, "Why don't you tell us his real name."

Before Rick could either comply or deny, a gunshot rang out. _Sounded like it came from the roof, _Ben thought to himself, _hopefully another member of their group._ On the off chance that it wasn't, he placed his hand on the metal staff of his scythe, prepared to wield it if the moment called for.

"Oh, god," Andrea groaned, exasperated, "Probably that hick Dixon."

_Hmm, _Ben thought, _guess that it is a member of their group after all. But, a very stupid member for attracting the attention of more walkers._

The group headed up to the roof, this time taking the staircase. When they reached the roof, they saw a gruff looking man, standing at the edge of the roof, shooting a rifle. Ben placed his hand back on his scythe, knowing that this entire thing could head south, incredibly fast. Ben assumed that the man firing the rifle was Dixon.

"Hey," T-Dog shouted, stupidly calling Dixon out, "Stop wasting ammo, Merle!"

"Hmpf, yeah," Merle sarcastically grunted, "the day that I take orders from one of your kind is the day that I day." He hopped down from the ledge of the roof, facing T-Dog.

"What do you mean by your kind?" T-Dog demanded, already knowing the answer but needing to hear it for himself. Ben advanced towards the pair, sliding his scythe off of his shoulder, knowing that the shit was about to hit the fan.

"A black," Merle sneered. In response, T-Dog punched Merle in the face. When Merle attempted to retaliate, Ben slammed the metal shaft onto the back of Merle's knees, and kicked him in the chest, effectively knocking him over, and causing Merle to drop the rifle.

Ben placed the curved blade on Merle's neck, and hissed, "Listen, if you do not shut up, I will throw you onto that group of walkers in the street. If there weren't any spectators, the walkers would already be tearing apart you piece by piece."

Rick had moved closer to the pair when T- Dog, who was now standing with the rest of the group, had punched Merle, so he had overheard what Ben had said. _He could __definitely__ be a threat, __maybe even a greater one than Merle, _Rick thought, _I am going to have to watch him, next time he may not just threaten somebody, he may actually follow through with his threat, that it if he gives one He is stable for the most part, but he has shown a tendency to have violent mood swings._

Upon reaching the pair, he moved Ben's scythe away from Merle's neck, and Ben gave no resistance to Rick doing so. Rick than kneeled down, handcuffing Merle's hand to a pipe. He stared Merle in his eyes, and said, "Listen, there is no black, no white. All there is is white meat, and dark meat." That being said, he stood up. Turning around to face the spectators, he asked, "Is there any way out of here?"

After a moment, Andrea said, "The sewers!"

"Glenn," Rick ordered Glenn, "go check the alley way, is there any manholes down there?"

After rushing to look, Glenn said, disappointingly, "No."

"This is an old building," Jacqui nearly shouted, excited that she might have come up with an answer to their predicament, "and it might have access to the sewers in the basement!"

"Alright then," Rick stated, "Let's go find the sewers."


End file.
